JEDDAH, 9 September 2005 — Pakistan’s well-known Beaconhouse School System has launched its pilot project with the opening of the Educators in Jeddah. The Lahore-based system boasts 28 years of educational excellence with a network of over 122 schools throughout Pakistan.
Tucked away on the east of the Jeddah-Makkah Ring Road, between Tahlia and Palestine road-ends, the new school is housed in a purpose-built complex that claims some “unique” features. They include “high quality” English medium education at “affordable” cost, educational insurance that entitles a child free education in the event of the earning parent’s death, intra-city and inter-city transfer facilities within the school network in the Kingdom and Pakistan, standardized curriculum and lesson plans, teachers’ education and training by visiting experts, and student healthcare program.
“We’ll emphasize on all-round development of children and encourage co-curricular activities like arts and crafts, physical education, games, interschool competitions, educational trips, newsletters and magazines and school club and societies,” school Principal J. Al-Baiz said.
She has administrative experience in various schools in the city including Pakistan International School (English Section).
“We’ll be using British curriculum with a special emphasis on courses that Pakistani students will need when they go back to Pakistan. Most of our books are published by Oxford University Press, a department of the University of Oxford, which is known for its excellence in research, scholarship and education,” she added.
The school with 60 classrooms has capacity to accommodate 1,500 students. It also hopes to strike an “ideal” teacher-student ratio. It will initially have classes up to eight and add classes 9 and 10 in the coming years.
“We don’t believe in overburdening the children with homework after a hard day’s learning at school. In fact, research shows that a lot of homework in the lower grades is not helpful,” said Al-Baiz said.
“Unlike many private and international schools that have sprung up in make-shift buildings, this school complex has been built to the specifications laid down by Beaconhouse,” Rehmat Khan, an engineer and managing director of the school, said.
The school is set to have its formal opening next week. This will be followed up with similar schools in other cities including Makkah, Madinah, Riyadh, Alkhobar, and Taif.